Oh, That They Had Such a Heart That They Would Fear Me!

By Dan & Brenda Cathcart

The video version of this teaching is at: https://youtu.be/wBqQyDgnPic

The scripture reading for this teaching is: Jeremiah 7:21-8:3, 9:23-24

Our Haftarah reading this week is perhaps one of the saddest passages in all of scripture.  The prophet Jeremiah is delivering a sharp rebuke from God to the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.  The people had gone far astray into idolatry and adopted the worship practices of their neighbors. They had forsaken the covenant that God had made with them and rejected the prophets that God had sent to them.

Jeremiah 7:21-24 NKJV 21 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat. 22 "For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. 23 "But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.' 24 "Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

They had perverted the sacrificial system and at best were just going through the motions in their offerings and sacrifices to God. They may have been doing what was commanded and bringing the proper sacrifices, but were they doing it for the right reason?  Were the offerings coming from their heart in love for God?

The Torah portion for this week is from Leviticus 6:1-8:36 and largely deals with the regulations surrounding the sacrificial system and starts out with the sin offering. The people that Jeremiah addresses in this Haftarah were sinning in virtually everything they were doing! The words of Jeremiah to the people of Judah and Jerusalem in indicate that the people were bringing the sacrifices as commanded, but without sincerity. That is their heart wasn’t in it.

The Hebrew word used in this passage for burnt offering is Olah, #5930 meaning ascent.  It is from a root word meaning to go up. Their offerings and sacrifices were to go up to God. But by just going through the motions of the sacrifice, it is clear that they had no interest in what it meant for their offerings to go up to God. And their actions showed they had no interest in keeping the covenant that God made with them. God subsequently rejects such offerings.

This was a continuing theme throughout the history of the nation of Israel, not just in Jeremiah’s day.  God sent his prophets to admonish the people and remind them of their covenant relationship with God. And being a prophet was not an enviable office to find one’s self.

Jeremiah 7:25-27 NKJV 25 "Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. 26 "Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. 27 "Therefore you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you.

As we further explore the words of Jeremiah in this Haftarah, I am struck with the thought that many of the people encountered by Yeshua and the apostles in their time faced the very same issues. The Temple worship practices were supposed to be about life, yet many of the Scribes and Pharisees of Yeshua’s day had turned Temple worship into a practice of lifeless ritual.

Jeremiah goes on to pronounce a condemnation of their attitudes and lifeless practice.

Jeremiah 7:28-31 NKJV 28 "So you shall say to them, 'This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the LORD their God nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. 29 'Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.'

Jeremiah is making some serious and important comments on the sacrifices.  The sacrifices were central to the worship of God. But many times Jeremiah’s words here and those of other prophets are misunderstood.  Many modern-day teachers assume that God, speaking through these prophets, is saying that He does not want their sacrifices. But these prophets would have been the first ones to advocate for bringing the sacrifices because they were a central part of the Torah. What is it exactly that God wants from His people? This is a question that they could easily answer.  They had the words of Moses.

Deuteronomy 5:29 NKJV 29 'Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

Jeremiah identifies that the people were not just treating God with indifference, they were in complete rebellion against God! Jeremiah identifies four areas where this rebellion is manifest in them. First is in their heart. Their hearts were deceitful and corrupt.  They had not allowed God to give them a new heart.

In the Hebrew culture and context, the heart is the central part of the real person. Because of the sin nature, inherited from Adam, sin and rebellion is the natural state.  Paul wrote about this in Romans:

Romans 7:15-18 NKJV 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

Paul is saying that the entire makeup of a person is changed by the changed condition of their heart when it is turned to God.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul identifies a different kind of circumcision which is a sign of a changed heart.

Colossians 2:11 NKJV 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

The people who Jeremiah addressed did not repent and turn their hearts to God. Had they done so, the nation would have been spared the judgment and the people would have carried out the moral and ethical teachings of the Torah!

The next part of the body that Jeremiah alludes to is the feet in verse 24 where he says:

Jeremiah 7:24 NKJV 24 "Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

The people were “walking” in their own council.  This also is what Paul spoke of in Romans. They were following their own evil desires found in their hearts. In this verse Jeremiah says that they walked backward and not forward. Physically walking backward is not normal.  But Jeremiah was speaking of a spiritual backwardness. We are not made to travel in that manner either.  When we don’t travel with God and walk in His righteousness, our lives are not normal.  All one has to do, is look at the society around us today! Every where we look, life is backward!

Rabbi J.H. Hertz in his commentary on this Haftarah captures the essence of this idiom:

“…to desert the path of faithfulness and righteousness, no matter under what new or attractive name, is always to go backward.”[i]

In the same verse 24 of our reading, Jeremiah also refers to their ears or their hearing. This brings to mind the Hebraic concept of hearing God as expressed in the word “Shema”, Number 8085 in the Strong’s Hebrew lexicon, meaning to hear intelligently with attention and obedience. Shema implies much more than simple physical listening.  It is a deep understanding that is manifested in obedience. The people of Jeremiah’s day were not listening to God but were obedient to the desires of their own hearts.

In addition to illustrations involving their feet, ears, and their hearts, Jeremiah also mentioned them being stubborn or stiff-necked and they did not speak the will of God.  God’s words were not on their lips.

The people of Jeremiah’s day were walking examples of what it means to be totally depraved.  Every part and every aspect of them was affected by their sin.  In this Haftarah, we see Israel as an illustration of how sin affects humans. Not everyone in Israel was unrighteous.  There are plenty of examples of righteous Israelites living among the most depraved and backward times in the nation’s history. But the rejection of God and His covenant naturally leads to idolatry.

Jeremiah 7:30-31 NKJV 30 "For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight," says the LORD. "They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it. 31 "And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.

The people not only rejected God, but they defiled His house!  They setup abominations in the House of God! Jeremiah goes on to give them a stern warning.

Jeremiah 7:32-34 NKJV 32 "Therefore behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room. 33 "The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will frighten them away.

Even through this severe judgment and destruction, the people may not have turned back to God. Jeremiah continues with another description of their idolatry.

Jeremiah 8:1-3 NKJV 1 "At that time," says the LORD, "they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. 2 "They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. 3 "Then death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them," says the LORD of hosts.

It seems that even in this massive devastation, the people still rejected God and engaged in worshiping their idols! God had chosen the Children of Israel, the seed of Abraham, to be His chosen people.  God had given them the Torah and a special revelation of who He is, His very presence was with them, at Sinai, in the Tabernacle, and in the Temple.  God had made a covenant with them, not only for their salvation but for the salvation of all of the peoples of the world! They turned their backs of Him time and again! The apostle Paul also speaks of this level of spiritual depravity in this letter to the Romans.

Romans 1:18-20 NKJV 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Paul is saying that the creation itself reveals the living God of the universe! And people are without excuse because of this revelation. Jeremiah and the apostle Paul are on the same page here. Both speak of a people who reject the revelation of God, letting their own sin rule their lives. They replace the true God with one of their own design. Much like we spoke of in last week’s teaching where a man carves his own god from a piece of wood that he also used for cooking and heat, then bows down to it.

Death is the ultimate consequence for the people whom Jeremiah addressed. In verse 32 of our Haftarah reading, Jeremiah mentions two places that we should take a closer look at.  The first is Topheth. This is apparently a place within the Hinnom Valley where idol worship took place, specifically the sacrifice of children to Molech.

2 Kings 23:10 NKJV 10 …Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.

The second place is the Hinnom Valley itself. It is to the West and South of Jerusalem in the time of Jeremiah and runs together with the Kidron Valley on the South end of the City of David. The Hinnom Valley had been associated with idol worship for a long time.

2 Chronicles 28:3 NKJV 3 He (King Ahaz) burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

The prophet Jeremiah speaks perhaps the saddest words to be found in the Bible in verse 34

Jeremiah 7:34 NKJV 34 "Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.

Not only will the entire land be left desolate, but the streets of Jerusalem, the city of God’s name will be desolate of joy and life! Jeremiah uses the imagery of a wedding feast to contrast the kind of sadness that will envelope the city at that time.

The rabbis who originally formulated and codified the Haftarahs, understood that it would not be wise to end the reading without the promise of restoration and consolation. To finish off, the reading skips ahead.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 NKJV 23 Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.

The people who Jeremiah addressed in this Haftarah were trusting in their own ways. It clearly demonstrates that they were serving themselves and not God. This misplaced trust got them into serious trouble. We certainly see these same patterns in our world today. Not only does much of our society today reject God, they don’t even pretend to follow His ways as did the people of Jeremiah’s day in going through the motions with their sacrifices and offerings. In many circles the mere mention of God will be met with open hostility.  And beyond that there is confusion of identity.

Jeremiah says that we are to understand and know God. We can only accomplish this true knowledge by allowing God to implant it on our hearts. This is a knowledge that only comes from a deep and abiding personal and covenantal relationship with the creator.  It is through His grace and loving kindness that we receive the gift of life.  Again, I am reminded of the words of Paul, this time in his letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The message from both Jeremiah and from Paul is clear. The people of Jeremiah’s day and those of Paul’s day were sinners and needed a fundamental change in their lives in order for them to achieve the righteousness that God had intended for them to live out. Through Messiah Yeshua, we can live with a changed heart, we can walk in His ways, see our fellow man through God’s eyes and we can speak boldly of His righteousness and His kingdom.

Study Questions:

1. Discuss the connection of this teaching to the Torah Portion Tzav, Leviticus 6:1-8:36.

2. Discuss the similarities, as well as the differences of situation in this Haftarah reading with other times in Israel’s history where the people disobeyed and turned to idolatry.

3. Jeremiah 7:29 at first reading may seem oddly out of place in Jeremiah’s admonition of the people.  How should the people have understood this verse?  What does it mean to “Cut off your hair and cast it away?”

4. Jeremiah describes a devastation and destruction of Jerusalem in this Haftarah.  How does this description compare with other prophets?  How does it apply to prophesy yet to be fulfilled?

5. In what were the people boasting in this Haftarah?  How does this relate to Paul’s teaching about boasting?

6. What new insight did you gain from this teaching? How do you respond to this new insight? How will you realign your life based on this new understanding?

Extra Credit:  In the Ephesians 2:8-10 quoted at the end of this teaching, what specifically was Paul referring to by the “good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them?”

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[i] Rabbi J.H. Hertz, The Pentateuch and the Haftarah, p. 439.